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[NY TIMES] S. Korea Deports Korean American Over Warm Words for Trips to North

January 10, 2015
A Korean American Shin Eun-mi, center, arrives at the Incheon International Airport for departure in Incheon, South Korea, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015. (Yonhap)

A Korean American Shin Eun-mi, center, arrives at the Incheon International Airport for departure in Incheon, South Korea, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015. (Yonhap)

[THE NEW YORK TIMES] — A South Korean-born American citizen who has spoken warmly about her trips to North Korea in public appearances and articles was deported from South Korea on Saturday, after an outcry from conservatives who accused her of sympathizing with the North Korean government.

The woman, Shin Eun-mi, 54, said she would not challenge the immigration authorities’ decision to deport her, and she boarded a plane to Los Angeles on Saturday evening. But she said she was deeply disappointed with the South Korean government.

“I feel as if I am betrayed by someone I have loved,” she said before Justice Ministry officials escorted her from the immigration office in Seoul to Incheon International Airport. “My body is leaving my home country, South Korea, today, but they can never deport my soul, too, from the mother country that I love.”

By law, she cannot return to South Korea for five years. [READ MORE]